Thousands of New Yorkers protest Mayor de Blasio and Governor Hochul’s vaccine mandates

The protest followed Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's announcement that she had granted herself emergency powers and stated that the National Guard would to be deployed to hospitals following the termination of health care workers that refuse to be vaccinated. Mayor Bill de Blasio has also instituted a vaccine mandate.

The mandate goes into effect for health care workers Monday at midnight.

The large crowd of protestors gathered at 2 pm for a protest called NYC Walkout 2 located at New York City's Foley Square downtown. Jo Rose, a spokesperson for Teachers For Choice, told The Post Millennial that vaccine mandates are tyrannical orders from the government.

"We believe it should be everyone's choice. We are responsible for our health not the government. Sending thousands of people to the unemployment and poverty lines because of their medical choice is tyranny," Rose said.

During the march, chants including "wake up New York" and "my body, my choice" could be heard through the city's streets as protesters joined together to participate in the event hosted by New York Freedom Rally and Teachers For Choice.

Aside from the vaccine mandate hitting health care workers on September 28, New York Governor Hochul, who took office after Andrew Cuomo's August resignation, enacted a similar mandate for the Department of Education. Teachers employed by the state of New York are required to submit proof of vaccination come October 1 at 11:59 pm or face termination.

The mandates do not provide alternative options to submit a negative COVID test in place of vaccine passports. In addition, Governor Hochul stated in Monday's press conference that "there are not legitimate religious exemptions" to vaccine mandates.

New York City is among one of America's largest cities with the strictest COVID-19 "safety" requirements. Like Seattle and San Francisco, proof of vaccination is required to enter gyms, NYC restaurants, bars, and other entertainment venues, which has resulted in mass protests throughout the country and restaurant workers getting attacked by fed-up citizens.